After several false starts, a truce has been agreed between Israel and Gaza, with both Egypt and the United States playing a significant role in the process. This will be a relief both for those Israelis who have suffered rocket fire from Hamas and from other groups in Gaza and the far greater number of Gazans ...
I am in Philadelphia! Kinda. I am here to spend Thanksgiving with the roomies chez famile de Becca and to eat until I explode in a mess of contented vegetarian stuffing. But I'll maybe talk about that tomorrow. Right now I want to talk about what I got at the comic store today. Princeless: Short Stories for Warrior Women is an anthology of shorts and pin-ups from the world of Adrienne, the rockin' Princess who busted out of her own tower and donned armor to rescue her sisters. The first volume of her adventures (which, hey, is available from Amazon ...
There isn't a great deal of disagreement about the key problems facing the British housing market. The main issues are high housing costs in both the owner occupied and private rented sectors, with correspondingly high bills for housing allowances. Many households have difficulties in accessing appropriate accommodation, particularly given the limited flow of lettings in the social rented sector. And the market is subject to high volatility but international standards, which has negative ramifications for the macroeconomy. The root cause of this is the failure of housing supply – over a period measured in decades rather than years – to ...
There has been much talk over the past month of Liberal Democrats, blogging and awards. Jonathan Calder has, by dint of giving the snowball a decently hard shove, started that debate and taken it on, helped by Jennie (made of awesome) Rigg, Alex (and to think I was his Returning Officer once...) Wilcock and others. I haven't won any awards, although I wouldn't say no if I did, but I do have a BOTY here in the office at home - the one that Ros won in 2008 for best use of social media in a campaign. It's very nice, ...
Another week at Bonkers Hall draws to a close. On the whole, I think that is just as well. Saturday What to do about Heath? He is the most engaging of fellows, but the badgers and I simply cannot put up with him any longer. I walk by the shores of Rutland Water seeking inspiration and it duly dawns. On my last trip to South Africa, I was taken to see a vicious creature called the honey badger - so vicious, indeed, that it is known to bring down its prey by biting off the male member. I should like ...
For those who are looking for Actual Content(tm) you'll get some over the next few days — I've got part-written posts on Surf's Up, what it is I actually like about Doctor Who and Logopolis that'll be coming up over the rest of the week, and tomorrow we'll be posting a Mindless Ones Thought Bubble ...
Guy Verhofstadt MEP likes waving hands, doesn't like Nigel Farage:
We have had a superb Christmas night in the West End this evening, with a packed-out Christmas Concert in Dundee West Church, Christmas Tree Lights Switch On, fireworks and carnival ride. The turnout this year was the best ever of the 12 years we have organised these events and I am indebted to my colleagues on the West End Christmas Committee and many others including - Rev Andrew Greaves and Dundee West Church, Robin Carstairs our fireworks supremo, Nisa Extra and the Kilted Kitchen who organised a great selection of food and drinks, Horne's Carnivals, the University of Dundee for ...
Damian Carrington writes in the Guardian that arguments over energy in government are unsettling the markets and the banks and the resulting uncertainty will put the costs up for consumers. Would Mr Carrington prefer it if the Liberal Democrats didn't argue with the Tories ? That of course would calm the markets and all the financiers would be happy bunnies. The Guardian usually
At the start of last month I wrote a post suggesting it was time to freshen up the Lib Dem Blog of the Year Awards. There was some debate in the comments at the time and now, as I hoped, others have taken up the idea. Love and Liberty (Alex Wilcock) has supported some of my ideas and in particular volunteered to resume his unofficial role of promoting the award for the best individual post if the organisers agree to reinstate it. His offer of help to the award organisers was matched by Somebody's Flung the Cat Again (Jennie Rigg). ...
On Sunday we reported that Lib Dem members were none-too-impressed with the Government's plans for secret courts. This morning we reported that 172 Lib Dems had written to The Times to protest. This evening the Lib Dem battle found its voice in the House of Lords, as the Guardian reports: Government proposals to expand secret courts suffered a series of damaging defeats in the House of Lords on Wednesday, significantly narrowing the scope of the justice and security bill. By margins of more than a hundred votes, peers opposed to the bill significantly limited the government's power to control the ...
It has been raining all day in Market Harborough and the Welland is in spate. And because of that the normally insignificant River Jordan, also swollen by the rain, has been unable to enter the Welland. As a result it has burst its banks near the point it joins the Welland and flooded this car park across the road from Market Harborough railway station. People will have arrived home from London in the dark this evening and been aghast at what they found. There is an even more insignificant stream that flows along the side of the road where I ...
Yes, I know World Toilet Day was on Monday. I've been poorly and preoccupied by Lib Dem Voice this week so far so I figured better late than never. I did do a bit of Facebook and Twitter sharing on the right day. Anyway, if you thought World Toilet Day was some sort of marketing ploy by a DIY chain to sell more toilets, you are wrong. It's actually an annual event to highlight how many people across the world don't have access to sanitation. If I've ever been hillwalking and had to "go" outside, I've found it to be ...
Photo: Financial Times photos The Widow's World notes the letter in today's Times from Lib Dems Against Secret Courts and urges you to sign its petition. This evening Max Atkinson and Paddy Ashdown are taking part in an event organised at Portcullis House by the UK Speechwriters' Guild. If you couldn't attend then you can enjoy some vintage videos of the first Lib Dem leader on Max Atkinson's Blog. "These rules have been catastrophic for local organisations which rely on leafleting to build an audience, but cannot afford such fees. A flyer ban in Leicester Square caused the collapse of ...
Gary Barlow and Kate Winslet are very lucky. Not only did they get to meet the Queen today as they received their respective CBE and OBE medals at Buckingham Palace, but they were in the same batch, if that's the right word, as our very own Sir Malcolm Bruce. It dawns on me that Barlow and Bruce are quite close to each other in the alphabet so they may even have been sitting near each other. Sir Malcolm and Lady Bruce enjoyed a celebratory lunch with family and friends after the ceremony. The picture shows them with his new medal. ...
It was what we call these days a facepalm moment when the news came through last night that the Church of England had voted by the tiniest of margins not to allow women to become bishops. The Archbishop had the clergy on message, but the laity didn't have the required margin. And it would be inaccurate to simply dismiss the laity as misogynist. Some of them thought that the proposal on offer was worse than the status quo in the way it offered "protection" for those poor souls who couldn't bear the thought of a woman in a position of ...
I've blogged before about how this government are turning the overseas aid budget into a giant slush fund to 'incentivise' British businesses to invest in developing countries – and repatriate the profits back to the UK ...
We've had a mixed affair with Political Drama in the UK over the years. It's seemed to ping pong between satirical and thriller with Yes, Minister paving the nation's appetite for House of Cards, jumping years later to The Thick of It and leaving avid viewers of political fiction in a maelstrom of schedule-empty fatigue. Peter Capaldi reprised his role as Malcolm Tucker! Television watchers in other countries have fared better with the US being gripped to the West Wing and much of Scandinavia in a feeding-frenzy over Denmark's Borgen. I'm not getting at the UK's broadcasters too much, when ...
A challenging motion, sponsored by Nottingham City Liberal Democrats, which seeks to amend the present unfair and lopsided UK-US Extradition Treaty was passed unanimously by delegates at the East Midlands Regional Autumn Conference in Bakewell, Derbyshire this past weekend. The ... Continue reading →
Not too long ago I worked for an interfaith charity seeking to bring together Muslim and Jewish students on the basis of what they shared in common. Noble aims, yet as the current crisis in ...
Wed 21st
16:46
MEPs welcome EU go-ahead for superfast internet scheme; roll out to rural parts of the South West to...
The European Union has given the go-ahead to proposed UK government support worth £1.5 billion to get broadband to parts of the country currently off the grid. The Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme aims to provide as many UK homes and businesses as possible with access to superfast broadband infrastructure and South Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are in line
On 6th May 2010 US stock markets suffered what has become known as a "Flash Crash" (Economist, 2010). Stocks fell rapidly, losing around 6% of market value in as many minutes, but nearly completely recovered over the next half hour. Many attempts have been made to analyse forensically the causes of this event and to draw out lessons for the future. Much attention has been drawn to the possible role of so-called High Frequency Trading (HFT) systems and market participants in either triggering or exacerbating the severity of the event, and whether the new risks posed by such trading are ...
I really like helping in by-elections, large and small. I love the buzz of campaigning with others from around the country. I love the knowledge that I'm making a real difference in a campaign that will be in the media spotlight. And by-election campaigns have taught me a lot: much that I know about campaigning has come from helping in them. Super Thursday may be behind us, but there's now three more opportunities to get involved. If you live in the North East, or in Yorkshire and the Humber, you may have felt the by-election bandwagon has passed you by. ...
The chart shows the growth result from rising birth rates and how they are impacting upon primary schools. At the latest meeting of the Creating Opportunities and Tackling Inequalities Scrutiny Committee local LIB DEM ward councillor Darren Fower, asked the Tory Cabinet Member for Education, what he would say to those who suggest his decision to close schools like Honeyhill and Bretton Woods, was a mistake given the city's expected shortfall over the next few years? Commenting, Cllr Fower said: "Cllr Holdich is always keen to talk about the millions his council has been handed or borrowed to try and ...
I have written to the 6 Labour leaders on Merseyside asking them to put internal Labour bickering aside and work for the people of Merseyside. The intervention comes following the news that a £50,000,000 application to the Regional Growth Fund ... Continue reading →
[IMG: Cover of AdLib issue 1] Last month I asked for your views on the new members' magazine to replace Liberal Democrat News. We got loads of really good feedback and we've tried to get as much of it into the magazine as possible. Of course, no one has ever made 100 per cent of Liberal Democrats happy 100 per cent of the time, but we sincerely hope AD LIB lives up to most (if not all of) your expectations. We're not giving away too much about the content yet, but Twitter and Facebook profiles for AD LIB are up ...
The decision yesterday by the General Synod of the Church of England not to allow women bishops, albeit by a narrow margin, is a huge set back for those who might want to modernise that institution. Even David Cameron, a Conservative Prime Minister, is appalled by the outcome of the vote. I cannot imagine many of his Tory predecessors taking a similar view. The fact is that the Church of England and the Church in Wales before it, are out of step with the twenty first century. If we can have women priests then why not bishops? The case for ...
A planning application's come in to turn the unused building on Wellington Street, which was most recently the "Garston Embassy" as part of the cultural village project, into one and two bedroom flats. You can have a look at the application, and make comments, at this link.
The gloves were off last night as candidates in the Croydon North byelection slugged it out at a hustings in Thornton Heath. As a Liberal Democrat I'm backing Marisha Ray to become the MP following ...
Holbrook Park playground is set to be refurbished very soon. Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation about the play equipment that I ran in the summer. The City Council has acted on the wishes expressed by local people and ordered the climber and spinner roundabout. These are now at the Council's depot and ready to be installed. Other maintenance work is going to be done at the same time, including a new safety surface and some landscaping. I met the council's managers responsible for maintaining and running the parks at Holbrook Park yesterday morning. They are ...
Wed 21st
13:36
The healing tongue: Irish learners in Belfast finding common heritage and common ground
The healing tongue: Irish learners in Belfast finding common heritage and common ground. Filed under: Belfast, Gaeilge, news, Northern Ireland life
Sarah Teather's recent interview in the Observer graphically reminded us of the social impact of the housing crisis on large numbers low and moderate earners in London. Vince Cable, on the Andrew Marr show, emphasised both the need to counter the tabloid rhetoric of benefit scroungers and restrain the growth in the welfare budget. Vince pointed to the urgent need to expand the provision of affordable housing in the capital. Our Autumn conference in Brighton considered a detailed paper on housing Decent Homes for All that notes that the primary driver of growing housing benefit and Local Housing Allowance bills ...
The final touches are currently being made to the lights on the Christmas Tree for tonight's Switch-On at 7pm at Seabreas - see you there!
In the immediate run-up to tonight's West End Christmas events, it was a pleasure this morning to take part in a presentation with Simon Fitzpatrick of Ross and Liddell, whose community bursary programme has kindly given a generous donation to this year's West End Christmas Fortnight. Based in City Quay, Ross and Liddell specialises in property management and maintenance and its Managing Director, Irene Devenney, said: "The bursary scheme was established to give financial support to non-profit groups and the West End Christmas Festival is a great example of an initiative involving the whole community. "Christmas is a great time ...
...sort of. There is a letter in today's edition Times from Lib Dems Against Secret Courts protesting against the Government's plans to introduce "Closed Material Proceedings" into civil cases. This means that the government and security forces will be able to site National Security and moved to closed courts in which the defendant would not have access to the evidence against them. If passed, this would strike at both the principle of open courts and the principles which underpin fairness in the Justice system. It would leave the security services and the Home Office with undue influence over legal process. ...
Whilst reading about the latest expenses scandal to rock Parliament - especially the Helen Grant story, something that I am going to write about later on today as it will require proper referencing etc as to why she has indeed failed her constituents even by "Playing by the rules" - I came across an interesting brief debate on Twitter about the necessity of a second home allowance for Kentish MPs. At first I agreed that such a measure should not be necessary. After all they live within spitting distance of London but after the brief knee jerk reaction I opened ...
I signed a letter which has been published in the Times today as part of the campaign against the introduction of "secret courts". Here is a link to the text of the letter and a full list of those who signed.
Cornwall Council's cabinet has voted today to freeze parking income for the coming year. That's a great result and was against the recommendation of the new cabinet member Bert Biscoe. Cllr Biscoe and colleagues Mark Kaczmarek, Neil Burden and Lance Kennedy had wanted a rise in income of 3.2% which would have led to minimum 10p rises in charges. The plea being made by officers and those in favour of a rise was that the council needs the money in order to provide other services. But the council has never made its parking budget - they are just numbers on ...
Every week, Michael Moore MP, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland, writes a column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. Here's the latest edition in which he is too modest, however, to draw attention to the fact that he won Best Scot at Westminster in the Herald's Scottish Politician of the Year awards, Post Offices In recent months a number of my constituents have written to me expressing concern that the Post Office Network might not win the renewal of the DVLA contract to provide driving licence and tax disc services. So I was pleased last week to hear ...
I don't watch much TV. During the last episode of The Apprentice, my Twitter-feed was suddenly flooded with people talking about Nick Holzherr's app "Whisk". Apparently it was some kind of recipe / shopping / mash up thing called Whisk. Sounded good. Sounded familiar. Then I remembered this from CadburyHack @edent We used @whiskapp APIs for recipes (and stated that) but app (Olympic event party organising) was 100% original. Hope you liked it.07/06/2012 10:22 via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite@nickholzherrNick Holzherr Now, the CadburyHack event had a top prize of £10,000. That's a hell of an incentive. I wouldn't have been surprised if people ...
but this is European Waste Reduction Week. The Temple household's latest addition to waste reduction (as well as waist reduction) has been to get into making soup by using up any excess vegetables from Sunday dinner, the only occasion when we are likely to have an over supply, but we'd be up for any other workable suggestions. Do you have any, or something else you've started to do to make your own life-style just a bit less wasteful. It seems a pity to let an initiative that happens across 40 nations pass us by in Consett, so lets come up ...
As the Justice and Security Bill is debated in the House of Lords for the second day this week, 172 Liberal Democrats have written to the Times to express opposition to the proposals for secret courts and their letter has been published today (£). Although only five names are given in the paper, the full list of 172 who signed before the letter was sent and more who signed subsequently is published on the Lib Dems against secret courts website. What's interesting about the list is that it contains such a broad range of signatories, from people who are normally ...
Walking around Venice in early 2011, I decided to move back to Cambridge. Finally in the summer of 2012 I did it. From time to time, I'll be posting about what I found here After a hard day's work at home in June, I received a message from the Cambridge Union: Presidential Debate tonight: "This house would disband the Liberal Democrats". Well, I wasn't having that. I turned up and sat
Craig Murray comments on the distorted western media coverage of conflict in Palestine and Israel: "There is no mention on the BBC - there has never been any mention on the BBC, or anywhere in the Western mainstream media - that for at least 4,000 years Ashkelon was an Arab town, until in 1948 the entire, Arab population of 12,000 was driven out by armed force, many being massacred." It
Why was turnout so abysmal in the Police and Crime Commissioner elections?? – Great post by Jennie Rigg looking at the reasons. Spoilt Ballots in the PCC Elections: What Do the Numbers Tell Us? – And following that, some data on just how many ballots were spoilt, and for what reasons. Don Jimmy Gambino OBE – Archie Valparaiso on how Jimmy Savile's activities in the 50s seem more like those of a mob boss than a DJ The Lib Dem Activist Blues – Jennie Rigg sets them to music. The curious question of Tory nationalism – Simon Titley writes for ...
[IMG: David Howarth] Martin Tod recently drew my attention to a short publication from David Howarth published over the summer about levels of public spending: Spending and Growth – a response to David Laws. As the title suggests, it is primarily a response to someone else's views on appropriate levels of public spending: Laws' assertion that public spending at 40% of GDP leads to "too much" resource misallocation and inefficiency, although itself rather imprecise and politically calibrated for serious analysis ("too much" for what and compared to what?), does prompt the question of what we know, as a matter of ...
This week is Anti-Bullying week. People come across bullying at work, school and even at home. It is endemic throughout society but it often begins in schools. Childhood bullying can do long-lasting damage as it knocks confidence and self-esteem. We ... Continue reading →
Fresh from sorting out the internal election rules of Unlock Democracy Mark Pack has again turned his attention to the internal rules of the Liberal Democrats and has come up with a new proposal for change. This time he's looking at the qualification period that applies before someone can vote in the party's candidate selections. The issue here is that the current rules prevents newly joined up members from voting in candidate selections until they've been members for a certain period of time, usually one year. This rule was introduced to prevent individuals gaming the system by signing up lots ...
Stand Up To Sexism and No More Page 3: How one night of comedy proved sexism is still no laughing matter « Not All Who Wonder Are Lost (tags: ) Job Centre advert led teenager to job with MP in Parliament - Julian Huppert | MP for Cambridge (tags: ) Women are equal now (more or less) (tags: ) Radio Ga Ga: BBC axes popular science radio show | Stephen Curry | Science | guardian.co.uk (tags: ) Vince Cable to announce 'earn or learn' scheme for school leavers | Politics | The Guardian OFFS. This is another thing which will ...
George Gammack, a Dundee resident who has long been a member of the Living Streets campaign, has written to all Dundee councillors about the need for Dundee City Council to adopt 20mph speed limits in residential areas. I have long campaigned for the City Council to adopt this policy, and, although 20mph zones outside schools were adopted as policy during my tenure as City Council Planning & Transport Convener, extending this to include very residential streets across Dundee has not been progressed. In the West End, there are many streets where residents have raised this issue with me including the ...
In my last two articles for Liberal Democrat Voice I wrote about the current under provision in mental health treatment in the country and why it is important that properly addressing mental health is brought into the political mainstream. Thankfully in recent weeks this has started to happen. Of course there was Ed Miliband's speech to the Royal College of Psychiatrists in which he spoke of the need for improved provision in mental health treatments across the country. Many people will of course welcome this state of affairs and it is encouraging if Miliband is intending to put improved mental ...
I am on both Radio Tay news and Wave 102 news this morning speaking about tonight's West End Christmas activities - including the Christmas Concert at 6.15pm and the lights switch on, fireworks and carnival rides at 7pm. Here's the interview on Wave 102 news:
There's a fascinating article today in the Telegraph by George Bridges: The Tories have gone astray - and I helped. Who's George Bridges, you ask? Here's his summary of his political career to date: First a researcher for the Conservative Party machine, then a tour of duty in the bunker of No 10 for the last three Major years, followed by a few years advising Michael Howard and David Cameron. It's a hefty 1,000-word 'Consevatism: my part in its downfall' mea culpa, and it's fascinating in two ways. First, for its call to arms for Conservatives to ignore the polling ...
LibDemVoice's surveys of party members signed-up to our discussion forum have been running for well over three years now. (I posted yesterday the final set of figures from our most recent poll.) Our surveys are a way of testing members' views on a variety of hot topics. And as they've been running throughout the first half of the Coalition they're also an interesting record of changing views on how the Coalition is regarded within the party. If you would like to take part in the LibDemVoice surveys, there are simply two steps you need to follow: 1) Be a current ...
This evening at 10.35 p.m. ITV is showing a second documentary on Jimmy Savile by Mark Williams-Thomas. It seems this one will concentrate on Savile's early career, so if you intend to watch it I suggest you read this startling article on The Sump Plug as preparation: We may never find out who Jimmy Savile really was: whether the entertainer, the philanthropist, the discotheque pioneer, the loner, the Bevin Boy, the loyal company man, the daft-coiffed eccentric, the secure-mental-hospital administrator, the all-in wrestler, the sociopath, the counsellor to royalty, the morgue attendant, the marathon runner or the serial sex fiend. ...
A man has died following a stabbing at a house in Cheadle. Police were called to a house on John Avenue in Cheadle following reports that a man had been stabbed at around 11.30pm. Officers discovered a 32-year-old man with serious injuries. He was taken to hospital by ambulance but died later. A 41-year-old woman – believed to be the victim's partner – has been arrested on suspicion of murder. She was being interviewed by detectives today. Chief Superintendent Chris Sykes said: "Sadly a young man has died and I want to reassure his loved ones as well as his ...
Come along to Gatley Green on 6pm on Thursday 6th December to turn on the Christmas lights. Father Christmas will be there, thanks to the Rotary, and there'll be lots of fun for everyone on the new-look Green.
Inspector Steve Gilbertson reported to Cheadle Area Committee last night on the latest crime figures across Gatley, Cheadle and Heald Green. Burglary, Robbery and Anti-social behaviour are static or down across the board (continuing a trend of crime falling over the last few years. In Gatley, burglaries fell from 55 last year to 40 this year, vehicle crimes were unchanged on 55, robberies (from businesses or people) down from 6 to 4 and anti-social behaviour incidents down from 77 to 76. For Cheadle, burglaries fell from 76 to 63, vehicle crimes down from 99 to 74, robberies down from 18 ...
This year's West End Christmas Concert takes place at Dundee West Church later today at 6.15pm! There will be musical contributions from the four local primary schools and Harris Academy. Dundee Rep's women's singing group Loadsaweeminsingin will also perform and Mains of Fintry Pipe Band will pipe everyone from the church to Seabraes for the Christmas Lights Switch-On. At 7pm, the West End Christmas Lights will be switched on at Seabraes by Mother Goose from the Downfield Musical Society Panto. Santa and his sleigh will also be there to meet the children and there will again be a spectacular fireworks ...
Wed 21st
00:28
Railfreight Boost in East of England - New Rail Track at Nuneaton To Take Lorries off the A14
Greener transport, more reliable passenger trains, fewer lorries on the A14 and increased rail capacity are promised for the East of England by significant railfreight improvements at Nuneaton. The 16th November saw the completion of an important £30 million rail scheme contructed by engineering companies Atkins and Balfour Beatty. The 1 mile of track, bridges and a junction were jointly funded by the Coalition Government, Network Rail and the European Community's TEN-T programme. This short new freight line and flyover has been officially opened and now links the cross-regional Nuneaton - Felixstowe route to the West Coast Main Line. The ...
Long before Simon Hughes became Mr Bermondsey (and more recently Mr Old Southwark too) he had European ambitions and indeed worked in Strasbourg for a while. But the looming opportunity of a byelection three decades ago diverted him onto a path that has led to his becoming Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats and the ...
Wed 21st
00:03
The NUS are undertaking #demo2012 today but why are the University of Manchester strong-arming socie...
Well folks today is the big day. I'm getting married... psyche! As if. No today is the today the 18-22 generation are going to change not only their own futures but change the world. Yes it is the National Union of Students 2012 Demo as thousands of NUS kids flock into the capital to tell the government of the day that they don't care about the young generation and they feel they need to change everything in Westminster and bring back the Labour Party who never introduced tuition fees and never proposed a students tax that students would be paying ...
Following on from last week's news of the House of Lord's Reforms for Baroness Campbell (see Parliamentary Progress in Access to Elected Office!!), I can now report on fantastic news of an individual with similar levels of physical adversity getting elected to office!! Alas, it was not on our side of the pond but in the state of Arkansas, USA. Josh Miller has been elected to the State Capitol, representing the community of Herber Springs. Elected on the same day as the Presidential Elections, Josh said "I don't really look at myself as being any different, because in life, everyone ...
